Alameda County Biographies
William B. Bunker
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
William B. Bunker, a leading and successful attorney of Oakland, is a member of the
law firm of Peck, Bunker & Cole, maintaining offices in both San Francisco and Oakland. His
birth occurred in Rush county, Indiana, in 1863, and there he was reared to manhood. He
supplemented his early education by a course of study in Purdue University and subsequently
took up the study of law at Warsaw, Indiana, being admitted to the bar of that state in 1886.
The same year he made his way to Las Vegas, New Mexico, and there began the practice of law,
for a number of years enjoying an extensive clientage as a member of the firm of Bunker & Lucas.
He was likewise local attorney for the Santa Fe Railroad. In public affairs he became a leading
and influential factor, acting as chairman of the democratic central committee of New Mexico,
being elected state senator and also serving as president of the bureau of investigation, clerk
of the United States court and as a member of the city council of Las Vegas. In these various
connections he made a highly creditable record, winning the approbation of his constituents in
unqualified degree.
In 1910 Mr. Bunker came to California and in March of the following year became a member
of the law firm of Peck, Bunker & Cole, which was organized at that time and has since
maintained offices in both San Francisco and Oakland. Their practice is extensive and of an
important character. Mr. Bunker is remarkable among lawyers for the wide research and provident
care with which he prepares his cases. At no time has his reading ever been confined to the
limitation of the questions at issue. It has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and
provided not alone for the expected but for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as
frequently as out of them.
In August, 1890, Mr. Bunker was united in marriage to Miss Lydia J. Peck, of Merced.
Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having
been exalted ruler of the latter in Las Vegas. What he has accomplished represents the fit
utilization of the innate talents which are his and the directing of his efforts along lines
where mature judgment is leading the way.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 169